


Birdwatching

by ChaosKilledTheDinosaurs



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I don't know how to tag this, One Shot, jossam, pre-game, they go birdwatching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28682985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosKilledTheDinosaurs/pseuds/ChaosKilledTheDinosaurs
Summary: Josh and Sam go birdwatching together at the lodge over the Summer.
Relationships: Sam Giddings/Josh Washington
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Birdwatching

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this like a year and a half ago and posted it on tumblr but completely forgot to post it here lmao. Anyway I was rereading it and still think it's cute so enjoy!

A drowsy haze of fog loomed over Washington Mountain, weakened only by the morning sun’s golden light. A light breeze passed through the forest, tugging weakly on the branches of the trees. The scent of decaying pine needles and earth were overwhelming in the area, as quiet footsteps trudged down a path together. Sam walked together with Josh, their voices the only sound coming from the forest other than the rustle of leaves and the quiet chirps of birds and squirrels.

Sam glanced up at him with a smile as she slipped on her camouflage jacket, the chill of the wind getting to her. “I’m finally starting to understand why you where your damn flannels all Summer. It’s still freezing up here.”

“That’s because we’re hiking through the forest at six in the morning.” He smirked down at her, raising his eyebrows. “You certainly weren’t expecting it to be a hundred out right now, were you?”

“I wasn’t expecting us to completely freeze our asses off.” She mused, pulling her hair into a ponytail before putting on a baseball cap that matched her jacket.

“Oh, it is not that cold!” He looked down at her with a cheeky grin, chuckling to himself. “You remember last Winter when we all came up here? That was cold.”  
She grimaced at his words. “The power went out and someone forgot to make sure that there were matches in the lodge for a fire.”

“Hey,” He pointed a finger at her, trying and failing to conceal his grin. “That was not completely my fault. I asked Mike to bring the matches and he left them at his place.”

“Mike doesn’t have a fireplace in his house. Your lodge does.” She shrugged, smirking as she turned her gaze to the path ahead of them. “They should have already been there, Josh.”

“Well hey, there was some good that came from it. Mike and Em did end up getting rather cozy, hm?”

“Ah yes, the blizzard and lack of any warmth in the house was the only reason the two of them ended up dating. Obviously.”

He nodded a bit, smirking to himself. “Obviously. But, we aren’t here to talk about the… raw, sexual relationship our friends have.” Sam rolled her eyes, hitting him lightly in the side. She only earned a light chuckle from Josh as he stared down at her. “And as adorable as it would be to watch, we also aren’t here so you can try and beat me up.”  
She raised an eyebrow at him, a light smirk playing on her lips as she watched Josh, taking into careful consideration what she would say next. “So… the image of me beating the shit out of you is adorable?”

“Well, not the part where you actually do it. Just the image of you trying to.” He grinned down at her, chuckling lightly to himself as he slipped the baseball cap off her head. “You’re just… so small.”  


She let out an annoyed grunt as she went to grab the hat, watching as Josh moved it out of her reach, a satisfied grin on his face at the sight of her struggle. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“Sorry Sammy, I can’t hear you. You’re just… so far down there.” He looked down at her with a grin, his eyes showing obvious satisfaction as he continued to hold the hat out of reach. Though he eventually took pity on her, placing the hat back on her head, holding his arms out wide as he watched her. “There. You look great.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

He looked surprised for only a moment before a smirk settled onto his face. “Are you? Well you should know Sam; I’ve always thought that you…”

He drifted off as he continued to stare down at her, getting lost in those hazel eyes. God, she was beautiful. Both inside and out. But how the hell could he tell her that? A flirty nature had always come naturally to Josh. He wasn’t shy around people and could easily speak his mind. Half the time he didn’t really have to put any thought into what he said. But with Sam… that all seemed to go away. Sure, he was able to make suggestive jokes, winking at her as he put on a smirk, but expressing his actual feelings towards her? It was overwhelming.

There were many times he had considered telling her. Had spent many sleepless nights mulling over exactly what he’d say, when, and how. Took the time to think through each reaction she could possibly have, and what he would say in response. Even rejection, which he thought to be likely. They had been friends for years. Had known each other long before that when they were younger, and Sam preferred to spend time with only his sisters. Of course, practically growing up with her only made it easier for his crush to develop. And maybe even blossom into something more. He watched her grow and change over the years, become the wonderful person that she is today. And Josh liked to think that Sam helped make him into the best version of himself.

He hoped that the best version of himself was what she deserved.

“Josh?”

“Hm?” He shook his head a bit as his thoughts were interrupted, being brought back to reality at the sound of Sam’s voice.

“You okay? Think I lost you there for a second..”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just uh… got distracted for a second, you know?” He cleared his throat before looking back down at her, that same smirk returning to his face. “You’re just so beautiful. Completely forgot about everything else.”

“How flattering,” She mused with a small smirk.

“Aren’t I always?”

She rolled her eyes playfully, raising an eyebrow as she looked back at Josh. She paused for a moment before she spoke. “…Sure.”

“Oh, don’t be modest. You know you love me.”

She couldn’t help but grin, a small laugh escaping her. “Love’s a strong word.”

“For strong emotions. That you feel. Towards me.”

She hesitated before nodding slowly, a faint smile on her lips. “That is true.”

Before Josh had much of a chance to react, whether with a witty comment or actually being flustered by what Sam had said, she pointed over to an area only a few feet from where they were, diverging from the path just a bit. “There. That’ll be perfect.”

He looked over his shoulder to where she had pointed, smiling to himself as he nodded. “Lead the way.”

It was a short walk before the two arrived at the area. Pine trees surrounded them, blocking out small patches of sunlight. Sam laid out a blanket for the two of them as Josh set down the bags he had been carrying (he had offered to carry Sam’s before they had even left the lodge). They sat down on the ground together, the grass beneath the blanket cushioning them.

Sam pulled their binoculars out of each of their bags, handing Josh’s his with a smile. “Hey, I uh… I wanted to thank you for coming with me. I know waking up at the crack ass of dawn probably isn’t how you envision your weekends at the lodge but… I appreciate that you did it for me.”

His eyes softened as he listened to her, a gentle smile on his face. “Of course, Sammy. You know I’d do anything for you. Walking through the forest at six in the morning to go birdwatching included.” He chuckled a bit at his own joke, setting his binoculars down to hug her. “So don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”

She smiled to herself as she eased into the hug, closing her eyes with a soft sigh. “You’re sweet, Josh.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He looked down at her with a small grin before biting his lip.

She raised an eyebrow at him as she pulled away. “Who doesn’t think so?”

He tilted his head up and to the side a bit, smirking at her. “You want that listed alphabetically?”

“Oh, shut up!” She teased him, laughing as she held the binoculars to her eyes, looking out and the view before them.

Josh grinned down at the ground as he picked his binoculars back up and held them to his face, staring at Sam with them. “You sure these things work, Sammy? You look so far away..”

She lowered her own as she looked towards him with furrowed brows. She smirked to herself at the sight of Josh, rolling her eyes playfully. She leaned in close to him, gently taking the binoculars from his hands and flipping them around. “Other way.” She mused.

He nodded slowly, raising them back over his face as if to hide his embarrassment. “Much better. You know, this view’s pretty nice.”

“Mmh.” She was still close to him, her eyes focused on the lenses of the binoculars, as if she was trying to lock eyes with Josh through them. Neither of them moved and closer, though they didn’t seem to move away either. There was a comfortable silence surrounding the two of them that neither seemed to want to disturb.

Josh eventually lowered the binoculars, staring into her eyes with a look of pure adoration. He seemed to lean forward slightly, his gaze moving to her lips for a moment. “Sam..”

She tilted her head to the side, smiling softly at him. “Yes?”

“I-“ He cut himself off, completely unsure of what to say. Actions seemed to be the only reasonable response. But… he couldn’t muster up the courage.

He moved away, cursing at himself for not just kissing her, and forced a smile. “What are you hoping we’ll see? Uh, bird wise.” Nice save, dumbass.

“Oh..” She looked a little surprised at the sudden change of topic. Even if it was what they actually came here to do. “Well, I found some that are pretty common around here. Grey Jay, clay-colored sparrow,” She smiled up at him, pulling a notebook out of her bag that she had brought along. It had different pictures printed out of birds she had researched in the area, along with whatever facts she had scribbled off to the side about them. “And since it’s Summer there’ll definitely be a lot more here.”

He could listen to her talk about birds for hours. And that’s close to what he got to do. They were out in the forest for a while. Sam pointed out different birds as she added more to her journal, they exchanged jokes and witty banter, and shared the food that Sam had packed for them. Everything seemed natural, and it was as if their ‘almost kiss’ had never happened. But… it was as if their almost kiss had never happened.

“You know, I think I’ve got a real knack for this stuff. We should really go more often. I mean, birds, food, conversation with you. What more could a guy ask for?”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” She said with a small laugh, smiling brightly up at him. “Just say the word and we’ll make our way back out here.”

“Yeah,” He let out a happy sigh, staring wistfully down at Sam. “It’ll be nice.”

Sam eventually noticed the longing look in his eyes and stopped in front of him, smiling faintly to herself.

“Sam-“

“When we first got there,” She said, turning around to face him. “After the thing with the binoculars? That was… I’m actually not sure how to describe it.”

He felt a weight crashing down on him, all of the embarrassment he was feeling obvious on his face. “Sam, I’m really sorry about that. I don’t know what happened and-“

“It was nice.” She said simply, smiling up at him. “What would have made it better… would be if we had actually kissed.”

This he was not expecting. “If we.. what?”

She gave him a knowing look, her hands folded behind her back.

“So, you’d actually? I mean, you’d-“

Before he could get another word out, Sam’s lips were pressed against his. He was taken by surprise at first, but eventually let his eyes close, placing his hands on her waist as he tasted the hint of strawberry still on her lips from their meal. She tasted better then he could have ever imagined. And this kiss was somehow a thousand times better then any of the scenarios he had played through in his head. This was real.

When she eventually pulled away, he noticed that her hands were now resting on his shoulders, a soft smile on her gorgeous lips as she stared at him with that same pining and desire he had always looked at her with.

“So… how long have you felt this way about me?”

“Well, that is something that you’ll have to find out on our first date.”

She let out a small laugh as she grinned up at him, moving her arms so they were wrapped around his neck loosely. “This doesn’t count as our first date?”

“Nope!” He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist as he returned her grin. “I’m gonna make sure we do this the real way! Dinner, movie, being aware of our mutual attraction to each other. The whole nine yards! You, Samantha Giddings, are about to be completely wooed by me.”

She shook her head a bit, simply amazed by this whole situation, and just how much she loved this dork. “I can’t wait.”


End file.
